It might be a natural wonder, but the Dead Sea can’t be entered into the New 7 Wonders of Nature contest because of politics.
The contest’s rules require that if a nominated site, such as the Dead Sea, is located in more than one country, all the countries involved must form an Official Supporting Committeee (OSC) by July 7. This doesn’t look like it will happen for the Dead Sea. Israel and Jordan, two of the three countries which share the Dead Sea have signed on, but the third – Palestine – is refusing to do so. Nothing at all to do with natural beauty and wonder. Everything to do with politics and the continually volatile Middle East situation.
Disappointing really, as having the Dead Sea nominated and then possibly winning would help highlight the environmental threats it faces. Continual mineral extraction and human exploitation of the Jordan River feed waters has caused the Dead Sea to shrimk dramatically over the past 30 years.
Only a last minute re-think by the Palestinian Authorities would allow the Dead Sea to progress to the next stage of the contest in which internet voters around the world reduce the contestants down from 261 to 77.
From there a short list of 21 which will then be voted on to choose the final seven that will be announced in 2011
It‘s estimated that over a billion votes will be counted. Will yours be one of them?
And if so, which sites will you vote for?
petty mindedness!
If all parties can work together for the Dead Sea, the three countries can all benefit in the long turn. Travel is about communication and cooperation, rather than separation.
http://www.OurExplorer.com
Travel through the eyes of a local
Ideally, there should be no one claiming this honor… well, I really do think that us humans really don’t own anything in Earth or anywhere else, we are just a part of it.. It’s too sad that the size of the dead sea is even going a lot more “dead”…. it’s already dead and it’s dying…
I would really love to review about this event in Baraaza where a lot of people would know… I have my family and friends there too…
It’s a sort of X factor for beauty spots. Will Simon Cowell pop up to pour scorn on one of the finalists?
And I dare say the winner will be from the country which most motivates its public to vote with the best PR campaign. Nothing to do with actual wonder or natural excellence.
Well, It seems a bit weird to me since Palestine is not a country. It’s an authority and no more.
One would have thought that it would be in Palestine’s interests to separate the status of its sights from politics.